Pancreatic Cancer
- Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose at early stages.
- Patients may have
only non -specific symptoms in the beginning. By the time it is diagnosed
often, the cancer has spread to distant organs.
- Although the incidence of pancreatic cancer is less compared
to other cancers, the mortality (number of deaths) from pancreatic cancer is
very high
- Surgery is the primary mode of treatment for pancreatic
cancer
- Neo adjuvant therapy-using chemotherapy or radiation therapy
prior to surgery may be useful as it may be better tolerated by some patients
and also because the size of the tumor reduces with these therapies and
resection of the tumor becomes easy
- Red meat consumption increases the risk of pancreatic cancer
- Laboratory findings will be non-specific Serum amylase and
lipase may be high. In obstructive jaundice, bilirubin levels will be very
high. Tumor markers like CA 19 and CEA may be high
- Alcohlic patients may develop chronic pancreatitis and it
may be difficult to differentiate from pancreatic carcinoma
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